How to download Linkedin data

by | Learning

Huge fan of Linkedin. It’s the primary way I stay in touch my friends and work colleagues from the last 20 years. Barely use Facebook, but use Linkedin daily. So, when I was trying to filter some of my connections – frustrated, and not working well –...

Good is predictable, great varies

by | Consulting

Managers assume too much We get busy and think to ourselves, “I have seen this problem before, I know what to do, why don’t you get it?”  We (falsely) assume junior consultants should know what we know.  Silly bias. As result, expectations can be...

What is management consulting?

by | Consulting

Management Consulting. It’s a lot of things. It is an industry; we all know McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, PWC, and others. It is a profession built on asking good questions. It is a team sport. It is a bit of an attitude. It is a tribe that is difficult to get...

What are case competitions?

by | Learning

Case competitions are great fun I did 9 of them during my MBA days. It’s a chance for you to compete with students and see how good you are at ‘cracking the case’. The format differs considerably: Some competitions last 3-4 hours, while others can...

US gun violence: Yes, we have a problem

by | Learning

I wrote this blog post in 2017, after the Sandy Hook mass shooting of school children. Remember that? Horror. Additional comments in red color, but the sad fact remains that America has the same senseless gun violence as it had then. Just in the last month, shooting...

Watch this: The Defiant Ones (HBO)

by | Fun

The Defiant Ones For those who (like me) signed up for HBO Now for just 2 months to watch Game of Thrones season 7 (affiliate link), please spend the 4 hours to watch The Defiant Ones (affiliate link). Amazing documentary on Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre.  A short list of...

Not easy, implementation takes guts

by | Consulting

Consulting is a big tent Consulting comes in many flavors. Or in other words, it spans all industries + non profit + governmental. Whatever story you read about in the WSJ, there is a consultant and an attorney who can help (or at least say they can help). M&A,...

What is hypothesis-based consulting?

by | Consulting

Hypothe – what? Yes, I know it sounds like jargon, but actually it’s part of the secret sauce of management consulting.  It’s more than educated guessing; this is how consultants smartly break down complex or ambiguous problems, and quickly start...

Solve problems like a jigsaw puzzle

by | Fun

Jigsaw puzzles are fun, meditative, mindless, and dopamine-filled. It’s a good way to stop scrolling. Listen to some music, have some coffee, and puzzle with your spouse. The good life.  I have 10 reasons why this is a useful metaphor for problem solving. Some...

What is gap analysis?

by | Consulting

Gap analysis sounds fancy. . .  Gap analysis is exactly what is sounds like – figuring out how far you are from a particular goal or target. Consulting firms do this all differently. It takes many forms, but is super common. In fact, I can’t think of any...

Best practice: A tool or a crutch?

by | Consulting

I wrote this post 6 years ago.  It is still true today.  Management consultants use the phrase “best practice” often.  Perhaps too often. You will see that magical phrase mentioned numerous times in white papers and research on these websites: Boston Consulting...

Anti-example: 10 bad charts

by | Graphics

Consultants are in the business of taking ambiguous problems, structuring them, and telling cogent, actionable stories. This often involves charts – yes – charts and graphs. The older crew – like me – is used to Excel, but you will also see...

Sample size: What is your n?

by | Learning

Sample size This is a phrase every consultant should know and (kinda) understand. Consultants are in the business of 80/20 rule, and smartly deducing insights from a sample of structured data (read: excel), qualitative interviews, observations, benchmarks and other...

Geek out. Become the mini-expert

by | Consulting

Geek out I have been using this slang a lot.  Many of us who have heard this expression know that it means to become a little bit obsessive about something (usually a hobby). Applying this to business problems, my argument is that business consultants and students...

Chilling out with The Economist

by | Fun

The Economist has a blog called Graphic Detail, which excels at showing complex ideas simply. Engaging, thoughtful, and often surprising.  Some recent graphs: 1) High blood pressure globally, not just affluent countries Link here A recent study in Lancet largely...

What is the Minto Pyramid Principle?

by | Consulting

This is from 4 years ago and covers the Minto’s pyramid principle – one of the most important concepts in executive communication and logical structuring of arguments. This is really big at all the big 4 and big 3. It is the scaffolding of management...

Make email better, 20 tips

by | Learning

Surprisingly, people use email poorly  They write long-winded email essays that are ambiguous, and often copy too many people. These sloppy people create more confusion, frustration and rework. In this case, more communication is actually worse. Take 15 seconds to...

Leading by example, with data entry?

by | Consulting

Yes, this morning I did 4 hours of data entry Yes, data entry.  Our project was in a time crunch and we had major issues getting good operational data, so we begrudgingly took some print outs and manually typed them into excel. Yikes.  Yes, we did look at other OCR...

What is deliberate practice?

by | Learning

 takes more than 10,000 hours. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that people have to practice for 10,000+ hours before becoming experts. At the time, this dispelled the idea that it is just raw talent or genius at work. No, he concluded, it takes lots and lots of...

Review of 39pg McKinsey Presentation

by | Consulting

McKinsey & Company do great work. On this blog, I have written about their leader, culture, high-visibility assignments at the CIA, and Department of Corrections. Overall, have enormous respect for the work they do, and the way they have built their practice. So,...

Good day for me, Tableau stock up 20%

by | Consulting

I am a terrible stock-picker Trust me, my portfolio returns lag the general market. If you read about a stock on this consulting blog – just look the other way. I am writing about it because management consultants need to understand how the capital markets,...

Who reads this blog? 10 survey results

by | Fun

Thanks for reading this blog (written in 2015) I have enjoyed your company and comments. Hope you find this stuff – not so boring – and potentially helpful. Some survey results which hint at www.consultantsmind.com readers. As my wife flattered me and also...

What do consultants do?

by

Consultants are a strange breed. We span all industries, but ultimately we are in the business of helping executives make difficult decisions and implement change. It is a combination of strategy (head), culture (heart), and operations (hand). Oddly, the most...

Metrics are important, and also over-used

by | Consulting

Metrics are everywhere As a consultant, we are in the business of quickly understanding business problems, proposing solutions, and measuring results. Metrics are a necessary evil of any project. The classic continuous improvement methodology DMAIC depends on M...

What do consultants do?

by | Consulting

It’s one person’s opinion, but here are 130 blog posts which I wrote over the last 3 years to describe my world-view of consulting. Hope you find it useful. Consultants are a strange breed We span all industries, but ultimately we are in the business of...

Big Design: McKinsey & Company buys Lunar

by | Consulting

Design is popular.  It’s not surprising that McKinsey & Company bought a design company. Many consulting firms are branching out with acquisitions in areas which were once considered non-core. Deloitte has picked up a few digital agencies. Accenture bought...

Poor, slow decision-making is everywhere

by | Consulting

Meetings are over-rated Okay, I said it. I have seen too many organizations put together committees to drive “alignment”, when in actuality, they are trying to mollify a miscreant or hedge away the risk by legislating an answer. Too often, it fails to...